he was a director of the Royal Africa Company, patron at the time Charles II brother. The company branded their slaves with the initial RAC. But this was, shamefully, perfectly normal in those times. Where does your torture and murder account come from. As to his being regarded badly by his contemporaries, then why did they put up a statue, and name so many things after him.
The facts are that yes he made a great deal of money, at least in part from his involvement in the Royal Africa Company. Many other made huge sums on the back of the slave trade. What singled Coulson out for attention was that after his departure from RAC he chose to spend a considerable proportion of his money on charitable works for the benefit of the local people, many of whom I suspect continue to benefit from his legacies and endowments. Most of his contemporaries trousered the money and built bigger houses or whatever. So did his connections with the slave trade make him an evil man? In our eyes today, undoubtedly. But to his contemporaries this would not have been to his detriment at all, and his philanthropic works made him a local hero. This is just the sort of story that needs telling so people can understand just how normal this was at the time, and how embedded the idea of slavery was in our society that a company that branded people with hot irons could be regarded as a perfectly reasonable investment opportunity.
There was an interesting documentary made shortly before the toppling of the statue. The reporter was black, and with a family history of slavery. There was quite an emotional.moment when he discovered that His own ancestors had very likely been sold by the very company Coulson was involved with. His view was that the statue should remain, but accompanied by a more detailed explanation of his history. They also interviewed a young black lady who had benefited from one of his foundations for the education of the poor, which had put her through university of I recall correctly. She understandably had mixed emotions, but came to a similar conclusion, leave it up and use it to educate people about the past.
If it was left for all to see then passers by might stop, thinking " I wonder who this was" and, given appropriate information, would get a thought provoking history lesson. As it is I suspect that in a few years time no one will know who he was or the story behind him.
